The present decade has witnessed the increased usage and greater complexity of active elements in a communication device, which need to be physically linked and/or communicatively coupled to other elements in the communication device. Examples of such a communication device include, but are not limited to, a radio telephone, a pager, a laptop, and a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). Examples of the active elements include, but are not limited to, a camera, a display, and a fingerprint sensor. In at least one common configuration, the communication device can include a first housing and a second housing, where a greater number of the active elements are increasingly being placed in alternative ones of the first housing and the second housing. This has tended to result in an increasing amount of data being conveyed between the first housing and the second housing to transmit data such as video content and audio content between them. The increasing amount of data can be accommodated by an increasing number of data lines and/or an increase in the data rate for at least some of the data lines.
In one of the known methods of conveying data between a first housing and a second housing, the data is routed via a complex multi-layer flex circuit. The multi-layer flex circuit generally includes a multiple layer of high density conductive traces interleaved with an insulating material. The multi-layer flex circuit is then passed through a restricted space between the first housing and the second housing. However, routing a large number of signals through the restricted space can result in the multi-layer flex circuit that is mechanically less reliable and has greater radio-frequency interference. In a slider configuration, a multi-layer electric flex circuit of the communication device should be designed to have a rolling configuration. In the rolling configuration, a minimum bend-radius of the multi-layer electric flex circuit can contribute meaningfully to the thickness of the device.
In some instances involving the transmission of data via a flex circuit, a shield layer can be provided to the multi-layer flex circuit in at least some areas to minimize the radio-frequency interference, caused by the multi-layer flex circuit. However, this often results in an increased stiffness, complexity and cost of the multi-layer flex circuit. In some areas where the multi-layer flex circuit is bent or twisted, the layers will be separated from each other so as to enhance the ability of the multi-layer flex circuit to mechanically flex. However the accommodation of an ability of the layers to separate, and the corresponding separation of the same, can often result in a reduction in the efficiency of the shielding.
Alternatively, any attempt to reduce the number of signals being conveyed by the multi-layer flex circuit to simplify the structure of the same, often requires that the data rates of the signals on at least some of the remaining data lines to be increased, which can result in even greater amounts of the radio-frequency interference.
In light of the above mentioned discussion there is a need for a system for the data transmission between the first housing and the second housing which limits the amount of any radio-frequency interference. Further, the system should accommodate relatively high-speed data transmission between the first housing and the second housing. Furthermore, the system should be cost-effective and easy to assemble, while minimizing the impact on the overall thickness of the device.